# MEMBERS EXPERIENCES > TRAINING/DIET/CYCLE ACCOUNTABILITY LOGS >  balance motivation log

## balance

Welcome all!
This is a log to keep track of a 12 week run I am about to begin. I was fortunate enough to win Gearheads extremely generous 12 week coaching giveaway. Here’s a link to the thread where he offered up the deal. 

https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...-giveaway.html

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to work with a trainer/coach with regards to fitness/lifting. I’m really hoping I can take full advantage of this. The coaching covers diet/nutrition, lifting exercises, and compound selection. Basically Gearhead plans all aspects for this 12 week run. His programming is no cookie cutter or run of the mill programing. I can already tell just by how detailed oriented he was with his questioning to best ascertain an ideal diet and schedule to help optimize my programming. Seriously this was very detailed and in depth! I’m am extremely thankful and excited for this opportunity and help to reach my goals. It’s awesome having this sort of knowledge behind me but also a little daunting knowing that it’s on me to carry it out. 

A little background about myself currently 45 years old, 6 foot, 198lbs, bf = ? Not really sure but my current pic below can give an idea where I am at right now. 

I have been on and off health kicks since I was 20 years old. Most of these health kicks lasted 2-4 years. By health kicks I mean lifting 
4+ days a week and eating with a conscious effort towards positive results. Never used anabolics until very recent trt (began Spring 2018). There were several consecutive years though where I did not exercise or eat with any regards to healthy habits (basically behaved like the general public). Through those years of little exercise and poor eating habits I never allowed myself to go over 196 lbs, with my average being approximately 186 lbs the majority of the time, waist never exceeded 36". 

About 4 years ago I got back on a health kick and have been feeling amazing since. I began the kick by getting back into childhood sport (surfing), and calisthenics on the days out of the water, intermittent fasting everyday and eating/drinking healthy. For me calisthenics was lots of pull ups, push ups, ab stuff, and squats with bands but I would do this eod sort of with a bro split type routine. In 4 months I dropped from 190 lbs to 160 lbs. It was amazing surfing at 160lbs vs 190 lbs. my abilities were on par (if not exceeding) that of my teen years. For past 2 decades I had just written off my skill level decline to age factor. 

About three years ago I moved to a new state and away from my ability to go surfing. Like many other times in my life I went back to lifting weights as a hobby (I greatly enjoy lifting). In this transition from surfing and calisthenics to lifting weights (I focus on compound lifts with bro style split now) I managed to go from 160lbs to 180lbs in less than 2 years. Waist size increase was only about 1/2" to 1" with this 20 lb gain. This was all a product of eating extremely good and lifting minimum 4 days a week. I was making good progress but could feel the gains slowing as I was approaching the heaviest and leanest I have been through the years. 

Through this time of lifting I could definitely feel the increased recovery time needed after exercise compared to 10-20 years ago. I was pretty wiped out most of the time and energy levels were less than ideal. So in the Spring 2018 I began a TRT protocol of 200mg weekly through a local wellness clinic (weighed 180 lbs pictured below before beginning trt). 

So after beginning TRT I have put on another 20 lbs in less than a year. Being on HRT I began doing more compound research/learning. That brought me to this forum and it’s wealth of helpful knowledgeable members. I was fortunate enough to come across Gearheads offer and here we are!

Goals goals goals we all got them!
So what are my goals? I want to be JACKED! lol Now seriously I want what most folks here are after. That’s more muscle and less fat. Thing is the order is a little bit twisted for me. I want the focus to be less fat for now. Basically I would like the abs I had in the 170lbs picture but, I want to try and stay around 200lbs. So I guess that’s a bit of a recomp. I will say if I end up at 210lbs and abs that works too lol. 

I am planning to update this thread often with progress, insight, and sometimes just some random stuff to keep it moving. I really appreciate those that can follow along and provide any insight, encouragement, or even just random stuff to help keep it moving forward. 

Thanks again to Gearhead for this opportunity and too all the folks that can follow along. 

Thank you
b

160 lbs


170 lbs


180 lbs


190 lbs


200 lbs (current)

----------


## Obs

Following

----------


## Obs

Damn good job btw!

----------


## Old Duffer

Also following

----------


## Obs

You did all that with trt and less gh will make you huge

----------


## Capebuffalo

Gotta see the wheels. 
You put 20 lbs since spring just on trt?
You are going to freaking explode on cycle. 
Your base is fantastic. 
Hard to say without seeing your back and legs but I guess 15-18 bf. 
Following. Now kill this shit.

----------


## balance

Yes the 180 lbs pic was before trt early May this year.
TRT began middle of May. I also was off trt for a little over a month around August. My lower body is fairly proportional to upper, maybe a little bit skinnier. I’m not really concerned with leg growth but I don’t skip leg days lol. I actually really like deadlifting too. 
I may end up actually doing a little more lowerbody exercises as I’m kind of trying to work around some elbow issue (golfers elbow). It doesn’t get that aggravated if I don’t do too much pulling work for upper back. Thanks for the kind comments.

----------


## ghettoboyd

Very nice base to start my friend kudos to your efforts...I will be following and can’t wait to see the results you are in good hands with GH...enjoy the ride...

----------


## Capebuffalo

What did you work today? What did you eat?

----------


## BG

Subscribed and jealous a little because you won  :Wink:

----------


## balance

> Very nice base to start my friend kudos to your efforts...I will be following and can’t wait to see the results you are in good hands with GH...enjoy the ride...


Many thanks bro. I saw you are doing the January contest I will be following you too!

----------


## balance

> Subscribed and jealous a little because you won



BG is jelly lol!!!!!!
Man every time I see your avi I think about the years and years of dedication.

----------


## Capebuffalo

> BG is jelly lol!!!!!!
> Man every time I see your avi I think about the years and years of dedication.


You know that’s Phil Heath in the avi right? Lol

----------


## Proximal

Insane base & response to trt. Unofficial prediction, Mr. O in 2030. This is going to be a VERY interesting thread to watch & read! Way to go thus-far & best of luck with this!

----------


## balance

> What did you work today? What did you eat?



Eggs my man eggs!



I will log up a day of eating shortly but to give you a general idea my first three meals everyday consist of eggs (6-10 whites to one whole per meal). Quantity wise it just depends upon whether it’s pre or post workout and if I’m training that day or not. I tend to eat pretty much the same everyday. I’m one of those people that can eat same stuff over and over and it really doesn’t bother me much. 

Preworkout today 
Eggs (6 white, 1 whole), cup of oatmeal, 1/2 banana and coffe 

Drink preworkout stim on drive to gym 

Post workout 
Eggs (6 white 1 whole), 2 cups white rice

Meal 3 now (only had enough to prep 2 egg meals this am so chicken now)
9 oz white meat chicken, 3/4 white lenders bagel smidge kerrygold butter, 3/4 gallon of water drank since waking up. 

I have been following GH diet to a tee for almost a week and feeling really good with it. Still just trt but I can say my muscles feel fuller and I’m less stomach bloated with GH strategic diet layout. 

Gym this am
Shoulders and arms

Standing overhead press sop heavy weight for me 
4 sets 4-8 rep range per set

Seated overhead press lighter higher reps
4 sets 12-8 rep range

Standing land mine overhead press 6-10 rep range
4 sets (final set drop set)

Superset tricep pushdown with V bar and seated bicep DB curls. 8-12 rep range. 

Abs decline bench set steep 
2 sets 25 reps unweighted 
I usually do 4 sets at 26 reps per but planning on squats tomorrow so like to keep core fairly fresh and hit abs again after legs. 

Received cutrent labs back from trt clinic yesterday. Labs look pretty good discussed with clinic yesterday. Then GH went over the labs with me giving even better detail and insight. Then discussed gear selection for this 12 week run. I’m trying to get gear in motion but waiting on response currently. 

I need to learn the multi quote reply. Any tips?

----------


## balance

> You know that’s Phil Heath in the avi right? Lol


What?
That guy in pic has a white head!?

Or r u saying bg IS PH!!!

----------


## Capebuffalo

What is a standing land mine?

----------


## balance

Proximal thanks buddy!
I get feeling you must be the really cool teacher, I remember having a few of those  :Smilie:

----------


## balance

> What is a standing land mine?


Shove barbell end in corner of room on floor. Most gyms have metal plates in the corners for this. Then load up whatever you can press overhead. Both hands hold end of barbell like you grab a post hole digger to begin hole. Thing is at some point cleaning this weight from the floor to your chest (starting position) starts to get a little unwieldy for me it’s 3 plates. If your gym has CrossFit type boxes you can use that to start/end set on so u don’t have to clean weight all the way from the floor. 

Cape I know u ohp a lot more than me so I’m not sure if you would like the setup hassle on this exercise as you likely will be starting with a lot of weight. It’s a good movement for me as I can really feel front delta firing as weight is tilted on the fulcrum up and forward. I like to really squeeze at top to and feel the traps gettin hit too.

----------


## Capebuffalo

> Shove barbell end in corner of room on floor. Most gyms have metal plates in the corners for this. Then load up whatever you can press overhead. Both hands hold end of barbell like you grab a post hole digger to begin hole. Thing is at some point cleaning this weight from the floor to your chest (starting position) starts to get a little unwieldy for me it’s 3 plates. If your gym has CrossFit type boxes you can use that to start/end set on so u don’t have to clean weight all the way from the floor. 
> 
> Cape I know u ohp a lot more than me so I’m not sure if you would like the setup hassle on this exercise as you likely will be starting with a lot of weight. It’s a good movement for me as I can really feel front delta firing as weight is tilted on the fulcrum up and forward. I like to really squeeze at top to and feel the traps gettin hit too.


I’ve been seeing those more and more lately on line but had no idea what they were called. Looks to be a good movement. May have to try them now.

----------


## charger69

Do you now have government secret clearance after completing the GH questionnaire?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Proximal

> Proximal thanks buddy!
> I get feeling you must be the really cool teacher, I remember having a few of those


TY. Some days cool, others not so much, lol. You're going to crush this.

----------


## balance

> Do you now have government secret clearance after completing the GH questionnaire?
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Oh man it’s crazy! Lots of deep questions there seriously. Childhood eating habits and other traits about myself.

----------


## RaginCajun

what does your daily diet look like from GH?

----------


## GearHeaded

Wow, I'm surprised guys haven't been hammering you with questions about what your cycle looks like !


well guys I haven't been around much the last few days, been swamped with some personal projects trying to finish. So anyhow we got a bit of a delayed start on the programming , but I'm guessing by next week sometime everything should have 'arrived' and balance will be full bore into this thing

----------


## Old Duffer

Not only am I patient, but there was mention of secrets. ;-)

Watching n waiting

----------


## GearHeaded

so the diet is set up for Balance where food 'timing' is critical. we have things formulated where some meals during the day are set up as "lipolytic'' opportunities and some meals as "anabolic ' opportunities. 
most diets are formulated with the idea that its just all about 'calories in vs calories out' over a weekly period. I on the other hand think the body is primed every single hour to either be burning fat, or repairing tissue (anabolic).
so based on this idea, the timing of the macros you eat in the day is very important.

I cycle protein, fats, and carbs and have select food choices based on the 'Time of the Day' and I also formulate the diet based on the training schedule (and intensity/volume).
heres a little glimpse into what we are doing right now.

Balance has a 'training days diet', a 'rest days diet' and a 're-feed days diet' . the macros and calories on each of those are completely different. 
his training days diet --
he trains in the morning. we want to take advantage of the lipolytic benefits that come with morning training (your in more of a primed position to burn body fat in the morning after having slept for 8+ hours and being fasted). So the first meal is going to be protein and lower glycemic 'slow' carbs. we don't want a huge insulin spike at this time (this is the opposite of what I do with guys that are purely going after mass). So something like oatmeal is a good choice here with a half a banana. the fiber and little bit of healthy fats will also slow the digestion of these carbs and provide steady energy for his workout , but he will be burning fat during his workout as well.

for guys that are in a bulking phase, and not a recomp like balance is doing, then I would go with fast acting carbs in the morning with exogenous insulin. for guys that are just cutting, we would likely go NO carb for breakfast.
so this first meal of the day is a good "balance" (fitting term considering whose doing the diet  :Smilie: 

after training is over , we go right to the high glycemic fast acting carbs with zero fats. 80g of carbs coming from white rice or a white bagel. 

these first two meals of the day are also only 40g of protein. rather then his normal 60g with every other meal.. the reason for this is to not bog down digestion in the pari workout timing window, as the carb digestion is the most important. 
I'm a big believer that the "anabolic window'' needs to be about carb consumption , not protein .

now the couple meals after his workout are 60g protein and 45g carbs coming from high glycemic carbs (and not fat). the focus here is an anabolic focus taking in nutrition to help recover from the workout.

as we move towards the later part of the day, farther away from when the workout took place. we transition over to low glycemic carbs and adding in some veggies and some healthy fats.
we don't want the insulin spike at these times. we want a slow and steady approach with our carbs. protein is fixed at 60g. the emphasis is recovery, but also more of a lipolytic opportunity.
we already used a bunch of glucose to refuel glycogen in the muscle cells earlier that day when Glut 4 levels were elevated. now we are just gettin in the calories and micro nutrients we need to recover, and hoping our body switches over back over to burning fat for fuel.

we end the day with just protein and fats, no carbs. this is the exact opposite as I do for other clients who are trying to put on mass or who may train in the later afternoon. 
again, this is all completely customized for Blanace's specific needs, situation, schedule, and training program.

ok this post is too long already..
real quick.. 
the rest days diet . he still starts the day off by having protein and his oatmeal. now normally for a 'fat burning' diet I would not have any carbs in the first meal of the day on an off day . BUT for Balance I'm still trying to put a lot of muscle on him too. so what I need to do is try and suppress morning cortisol levels (which if elevated is going to make him catabolic and prone to muscle loss), but I can't do this with too many fast acting carbs and calories.. so the oatmeal will generate just enough of an insulin spike and blood sugar rise to limit cortisol, while NOT spilling over too much and blunting the lipolytic effects we are trying to get in the morning.

note: with someone trying to gain pure mass. I would simply do 10iu of exogenous insulin upon waking as my cortisol suppression . but with Balance, we are not needing to go the insulin route.

the rest of the rest days diet is formulated for recovery and getting in plenty of good micro nutrients and protein and fats. this is a low carb day, as there is little to no Glut 4 response in the body and much less ability to utilize carbs. 

then there is the Re-feed days diet. this is once every 7 days and must fall on a training day.. here we go low fat and we pound protein and carbs all day to replenish and refill the body as much as possible.. during the week there is some depletion that is taking place. I don't want this depletion to carry out any longer then a week as that will limit muscle gains. the re-feed day diet is designed to keep him Anabolic plus enhance recovery. BUT keep in mind this is NOT a 'cheat day' and calories are not over the top at all.. its all clean and well managed.
protein is at 300g, carbs are 340g, fats 25g
there is zero reason to do any actual 'cheat days' at the starting point of this diet (or any diet for that matter)..

anyhow guys thats some info into the diet for right now

----------


## Obs

Damn thats low fat

----------


## ghettoboyd

I just read that whole thing GH and I seriously couldn’t be more impressed with the detailed explanations of your methods...much respect brother I learn something from you every day...glad you’re here...

----------


## GearHeaded

> Damn thats low fat


yeah its only that low one day per week though on the re-feed day.. on the non training days its 100g of fat, and 50g of fat on training days. also keep in mind these are 'direct' sources of fat (example, adding an avocado to your meal). trace fats are accounted for in this program , but are not calculated in the daily macro break down

----------


## GearHeaded

> I just read that whole thing GH and I seriously couldn’t be more impressed with the detailed explanations of your methods...much respect brother I learn something from you every day...glad you’re here...


much appreciated ghettoboyd! we can all learn a thing or two from each others experiences, so I'm glad to share what I can and pick up what I can here as well

----------


## balance

Awesome short explanation GH!
GH spent a ton of time explaining this to me in great detail, and tailoring this plan to optimize my eating to reach my goals. I have been tracking everything I eat (weighing everything and logging on MFP) for over 3 years and this methodology he has laid out really intuitively makes sense and makes things easier (provided you are consistent). While I am still weighing out portions to meet my macro goals I have not logged on mfp the last few days as I’m starting to believe as long as I stay consistent with measuring portions and consuming clean foods at the appropriate times we can just manipulate macros later as need be to continue progress towards goal. 

Here’s a breakdown of exactly what I have eaten so far today. 

Meal 1
Breakfast (preworkout out)
6 egg whites, 1 whole egg
1 cup of oatmeal plain
1/2 banana 
1.5 cups coffee (cream only)
Preworkout (stim) on drive to gym

Meal 2 (directly post workout)
Eaten in car parking lot at gym
6 egg whites, 1 whole egg
2 cups white rice

Meal 3
10 egg whites, 1 whole egg
3/4 lenders plain bagel light butter
after this meal I am also usually 80% done with a gallon of water
(I make a gallon daily with 2 tablespoons of lime juice)

Meal 4
9oz all white meat chicken
3 pieces of Ezekiel bread light butter
Gallon of water finished off here and now drink seltzer water with remaining meals. 

Meal 5 (dinner)
9oz low-fat ground turkey taco seasoned (family did taco night, I just eat the meat). 
1 whole avocado 
1/2 cup fresh pico de gallo (this is a bit of a cheat normally for me I choose a better vegetable here like fresh spinach broccoli etc)

Meal 6
Not sure yet depends upon how I feel around 9-930pm. Ideally I do 
9oz white meat chicken
1.5 serving of almonds 
But if I’m still pretty full or being lazy I do protein shake for 60grams protein (I have dymetize protein that’s nearly 0 carb)
1.5 serving of almonds 

I’m really not a fan of protein shakes over real food and try to not exceed 1 per day. I don’t drink them post or preworkout normally either. I really don’t think my body truly utilizes what’s on the label of these tubs so I try to focus on whole foods. 

Another thing worth mentioning I’m not a huge seasoning fan. It’s not that I don’t like it somewhat but a lot of them are loaded with sugar and other crap. If I do use seasoning it’s usually something like hot sauce, siracha, soy sauce, buffalo flavor sauce, as these are mostly salting sauces without sugar. With that said I mostly just salt my food to taste with iodized salt. 

Also while the eating method (diet) laid out by GH looks super low in fat it’s not really. When he says you need to consume 25 grams of fat with this meal. What he’s stating is eat enough avocado or nuts (almonds) that give you this amount of fat. He’s not saying just eat any crap that also contains 25 grams fat. Also while meals like he mentioned my breakfast are mainly protein and a slow carb (oatmeal) he’s ok with me lightly buttering the pan for the eggs and the fat in the one egg is fine (actually very beneficial for other nutrients and slowing digestion of other foods consumed at this meal). Basically be reasonable with food choices to minimize certain macros at certain times to optimize that specific meal for the time of the day.

----------


## balance

Funny thing when I got this eating plan from GH last week first thing I did was scan through the pages to find the total calories for training days, off days, and refeed days. He calculates stuf a little differently than I have previously (I was used to counting everything on the labels) so his total calorie numbers were pretty low to me. I was like OH CRAP! I’m going to be hungry constantly! Well at least there’s a once a week refeed day I thought. Then I took the time to really read what he had laid out and thought this sounds like a bit more than what I have been eating!? So I started the plan right away and am now just about a week in and I’m definitely eating more than before, quite a bit more. My muscles feel fuller and midsection is definitely less bloated. All that and I’m eating more. Honestly the refeed days might be biggest challenge for me to get it all in.

----------


## RaginCajun

> so the diet is set up for Balance where food 'timing' is critical. we have things formulated where some meals during the day are set up as "lipolytic'' opportunities and some meals as "anabolic ' opportunities. 
> most diets are formulated with the idea that its just all about 'calories in vs calories out' over a weekly period. I on the other hand think the body is primed every single hour to either be burning fat, or repairing tissue (anabolic).
> so based on this idea, the timing of the macros you eat in the day is very important.
> 
> I cycle protein, fats, and carbs and have select food choices based on the 'Time of the Day' and I also formulate the diet based on the training schedule (and intensity/volume).
> heres a little glimpse into what we are doing right now.
> 
> Balance has a 'training days diet', a 'rest days diet' and a 're-feed days diet' . the macros and calories on each of those are completely different. 
> his training days diet --
> ...


the fiber and little bit of healthy fats will also slow the digestion of these carbs and provide steady energy for his workout , but he will be burning fat during his workout as well

Please explain how this works?

Any research? 

How can one have eaten a slow digesting carb and burn fat at the same time during his/her workout? I understand that the body will be burning these cals for energy and also burning cals due to digestion but how does that relate to burning fat? Seems like some bro science.

----------


## balance

> “the fiber and little bit of healthy fats will also slow the digestion of these carbs and provide steady energy for his workout , but he will be burning fat during his workout as well”
> 
> Please explain how this works?
> 
> Any research? 
> 
> How can one have eaten a slow digesting carb and burn fat at the same time during his/her workout? I understand that the body will be burning these cals for energy and also burning cals due to digestion but how does that relate to burning fat? Seems like some bro science.


Good question RC!

I’m not sure if this is the correct answer but I will take a stab at it (if I’m wrong GH can hopefully chime in for clarification). 

Basically I’m fairly carb depleted by the time I wake up. This means I may be going catabolic, which is not ideal for me. Why I am carb depleted you may ask? If you look above at my post detailing what I ate on my last training day my last real complex carb intake (not counting 1 cup vegetables at dinner) was at about 4:00pm. So other than one cup of vegetables with my 6:30pm dinner (cheated a hair with not an ideal carb as it was fresh pico de Gallo, so I ate a little less than 1 cup knowing this is less than ideal vegetable source, tomatoes based vegetable so there is some trace sugar involved). Now 14 hours later it’s breakfast time my body is looking for 
easy fuel source. So this meal is approximately 1 hour prior to lifting so carb source ideally would be low glycemic like oatmeal, also helping to slow the digestion a bit there are the fats provided in the one whole egg consumed and cream from coffee (no sugar).

So going into training about an hour after this meal 
I likely will burn through those carbs from breakfast (30 grams). Now what gets used to fuel the remainder of the workout and cardio post lifting? Well hopefully it’s fat. Now this is kind of how I believe this is designed to work. Is this exactly what’s going on I have absolutely no idea. However I can tell you this since starting this method of eating last Thursday I am definitely eating more than before. My muscles feel noticeably fuller yet my stomach is less bloated. 

Something to note unfortunately I have been resorting to protein powder crap (it’s no carb) for my last meal of the day along with 45 grams of almonds (for my fat intake). The downside to this is that the powders likely don’t provide as much true protein to my bidy and it digests quickly compared to real meat. Overnight a slower digesting protein (like steak) would probably be ideal but by 9:30pm I’m not usually that amped to wolf down 9oz of real meat.

----------


## RaginCajun

> Good question RC!
> 
> Im not sure if this is the correct answer but I will take a stab at it (if Im wrong GH can hopefully chime in for clarification). 
> 
> Basically Im fairly carb depleted by the time I wake up. This means I may be going catabolic, which is not ideal for me. Why I am carb depleted you may ask? If you look above at my post detailing what I ate on my last training day my last real complex carb intake (not counting 1 cup vegetables at dinner) was at about 4:00pm. So other than one cup of vegetables with my 6:30pm dinner (cheated a hair with not an ideal carb as it was fresh pico de Gallo, so I ate a little less than 1 cup knowing this is less than ideal vegetable source, tomatoes based vegetable so there is some trace sugar involved). Now 14 hours later its breakfast time my body is looking for 
> easy fuel source. So this meal is approximately 1 hour prior to lifting so carb source ideally would be low glycemic like oatmeal, also helping to slow the digestion a bit there are the fats provided in the one whole egg consumed and cream from coffee (no sugar).
> 
> So going into training about an hour after this meal 
> I likely will burn through those carbs from breakfast (30 grams). Now what gets used to fuel the remainder of the workout and cardio post lifting? Well hopefully its fat. Now this is kind of how I believe this is designed to work. Is this exactly whats going on I have absolutely no idea. However I can tell you this since starting this method of eating last Thursday I am definitely eating more than before. My muscles feel noticeably fuller yet my stomach is less bloated. 
> ...


you are somewhat carb depleted in the AM but you are not fat adapted at this time. You are having carbs in 3/4 meals so you are not carb depleted. It takes A LOT to deplete your body of glycogen. Check out Lyles U2 diet. 

Your diet is sound, just dont believe what was written as far as burning fat during your workout when you have had carbs and protein before your workout.

----------


## GearHeaded

> you are somewhat carb depleted in the AM but you are not fat adapted at this time. You are having carbs in 3/4 meals so you are not carb depleted. It takes A LOT to deplete your body of glycogen.


the human body has TWO energy metabolisms. Fat burning and Glycogen/glucose burning. you do NOT have to be depleted of carbs or glucose or be 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat. the body is very efficient at burning both at the same time and switching back and fourth between the two multiple times throughout the day and the night. 

this is human biology 101..

but as it relates to bodybuilding or 'bro science' , um yeah the fact that you do not need to be depleted or 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat can be seen with guys like Jay Cutler who dieting and got down to 4% body fat while consuming 800 grams of carbs per day.


I think the KETO whacko's have somewhat brainwashed people into thinking that in order to burn fat you have to be fat adapted and not have any carbs. this is utter BS (though for most people burning more fat then carbs for energy is easier when carbs are low.. this is just common sense)

we all burn both fat and carbs all day long every single day. some of us may happen to be better carb burners for energy and some of us better fat burners for energy . but our body can switch back and fourth between the two at a moments notice

----------


## GearHeaded

> “the fiber and little bit of healthy fats will also slow the digestion of these carbs and provide steady energy for his workout , but he will be burning fat during his workout as well”
> 
> Please explain how this works?
> 
> Any research? 
> 
> How can one have eaten a slow digesting carb and burn fat at the same time during his/her workout? I understand that the body will be burning these cals for energy and also burning cals due to digestion but how does that relate to burning fat? Seems like some bro science.


again. biology 101. the body is capable of utilizing carbs and fat for energy at the same time and switching between the two at a moments notice.

throughout a workout, your not JUST using a glycogen dependent stimulus. example-- if you do bench press for 15 reps for 5 sets, sure a large part of that bench press is going to utilize glycogen for energy , BUT the fatty acids in the blood stream will also be mobilized for energy as well.
again, the body can and is forced to use both fuel sources.


So your question should not be "how can he have eaten carbs and still burn fat during his workout" .. the answer is so simple. again the body utilizes fat and carbs for energy all the time all day long. especially during a workout.

perhaps your question should be , "how can he have eaten low glycemic carbs, and expect to burn more body fat then had he eaten a large amount of high glycemic carbs" or something like that.

because again, no matter what the scenario is , anyone is going to burn both carbs AND fat during a long strenuous training session.

the reason the diet is set up the way it is with that first meal is so he can utilize a bit MORE fat for fuel then he would in a different scenario (like training in the middle of the day after consuming large amounts of carbs all day).

I'm simply slowing down his digestion with that first meal of the day (so he stays lipolytic longer since being fasted and waking up in the morning) so that he gets a slower 'trickle' of carbs into the blood stream to help fuel the workout, but in a limited capacity (again he is going to burn these carbs and fats at the same time).
IF he instead consumed say 2 cups of white rice at this time, there would be a massive insulin spike, which would push him away from his lipolytic status that he's in upon waking, plus possibly cause a blood sugar crash that may zap energy levels in the middle of his workout.
this is part of what I mean by "providing him steady energy".. the low glycemic carbs will help avoid any blood sugar crash.

but its a "biological given" that he will be burning fat during his workout. this is not a question and does not enter the equation. IF we can keep him in a more lipolytic state with his food choices though, he will end up burning MORE fat (its not a question of IF he will burn fat or not, its only a question of 'how much').

note: when I say "lipolytic" or "lipolytic state" , this is NOT fat burning. this is simply being in a position where your body is liberating fatty acids from stored body fat stores. BUT keep in mind guys, that is NOT fat burning. just because your bodies fat stores release fat into the blood stream does not mean that fat has be used as energy. nope it can go right back to being stored. it needs to be liberated into the blood stream and THEN it has to be used by the cell for energy in order for it to be "burned" . this of course happens during training (and multiple other times throughout the day) .
SO . by Balance training in the morning, with limited carbs, he is already in a state of Lipolysis (this happens to everyone when we sleep). he will more easily be able to burn body fat during his workout because there are fatty acids floating around his blood stream already (his body, ie, cells, is going to burn up these fatty acids and available glucose and glycogen to fuel his workout).

he will have steady energy from his nutrition. and burn fat during his workout as well . this is simply how the body works. AND being it works this way we can manipulate things, like diet and training, to take full advantage (thats why the diet is set up for him the way it is).

----------


## Obs

> the human body has TWO energy metabolisms. Fat burning and Glycogen/glucose burning. you do NOT have to be depleted of carbs or glucose or be 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat. the body is very efficient at burning both at the same time and switching back and fourth between the two multiple times throughout the day and the night. 
> 
> this is human biology 101..
> 
> but as it relates to bodybuilding or 'bro science' , um yeah the fact that you do not need to be depleted or 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat can be seen with guys like Jay Cutler who dieting and got down to 4% body fat while consuming 800 grams of carbs per day.
> 
> 
> I think the KETO whacko's have somewhat brainwashed people into thinking that in order to burn fat you have to be fat adapted and not have any carbs. this is utter BS (though for most people burning more fat then carbs for energy is easier when carbs are low.. this is just common sense)
> 
> we all burn both fat and carbs all day long every single day. some of us may happen to be better carb burners for energy and some of us better fat burners for energy . but our body can switch back and fourth between the two at a moments notice


What about someone like me that burns both in pretty much any amount I eat?

I have proven to myself through mapping bg levels that I naturally shred carbs fast but even if I eat a ton of fat there is no real added storage.

----------


## GearHeaded

Rajun cajun -- maybe I totally misunderstood your question. so my answers above may be totally off base.

but the way I read the question, made me think that you were assuming that a human body couldn't burn both carbs and burn fat for fuel. or that somehow eating a bowl of oatmeal would stop a body from being able to burn fat for energy during a workout.

the body burns fat just fine without being depleted or carbs. plenty of athletes around the world stay very lean year round eating a majority of their calories form carbs. the reason this is so is because they are simply efficient at burning fat for fuel and carbs for fuel at the same time.

----------


## GearHeaded

> What about someone like me that burns both in pretty much any amount I eat?
> 
> I have proven to myself through mapping bg levels that I naturally shred carbs fast but even if I eat a ton of fat there is no real added storage.


this means your really efficient at utilizing DIETARY fat for energy. some people are not. some peoples bodies are way more prone to storing dietary fat, and then after its stored they use it as energy if needed.
some people are so prone to storing dietary fat , that if they had not eaten a single meal for months and were on the verge of starving to death, that if they ate a meal that only contained fat, their body would still store 90% of it first before tapping into it for energy.

you on the other hand sound to be efficient at utilizing dietary fat for energy. as well as carbs.
and again repeating myself here  :Smilie:  the body can very easily burn both fat and carbs for energy at the same time. just cause your consuming carbs to fuel your workouts does not mean your not also going to burn body fat.
I'm sure you've noticed this about yourself


note: of course if your taking in more and more dietary carbs, fats, or total calories then your expending, your going to end up storing the extra (but that does not mean your always just going to get fat .. thats a misconception)

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> again. biology 101. the body is capable of utilizing carbs and fat for energy at the same time and switching between the two at a moments notice.
> 
> throughout a workout, your not JUST using a glycogen dependent stimulus. example-- if you do bench press for 15 reps for 5 sets, sure a large part of that bench press is going to utilize glycogen for energy , BUT the fatty acids in the blood stream will also be mobilized for energy as well.
> again, the body can and is forced to use both fuel sources.
> 
> 
> So your question should not be "how can he have eaten carbs and still burn fat during his workout" .. the answer is so simple. again the body utilizes fat and carbs for energy all the time all day long. especially during a workout.
> 
> perhaps your question should be , "how can he have eaten low glycemic carbs, and expect to burn more body fat then had he eaten a large amount of high glycemic carbs" or something like that.
> ...


May I also add (to my understanding): 
As we know, the main drivers of hypertrophy (which is also a goal, not just fat burning) is TuT and total volume.
There are many studies that show volume is increased substantially with fed vs fasted workouts. The amount of calories needed to achieve this extra volume isn't much relative to the extra volume gained, so it is worth it from a hypertrophy stand point. And also, the extra volume leads to more calories burned, so the net calorie difference is negligible. And the extra fats in the diet help stabilize glucose levels throughout the workout. 
Eating slow vs fast digesting carbs really doesn't matter, they both lead to available energy for the workout. The only difference is timing. For example, if you're going to eat 20 minutes before the gym, you probably want a fast digesting carb.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

GH- you are making this too complex... Just stop eating... LOL
Sorry, I sensed too much serious going on. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## RaginCajun

> the human body has TWO energy metabolisms. Fat burning and Glycogen/glucose burning. you do NOT have to be depleted of carbs or glucose or be 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat. the body is very efficient at burning both at the same time and switching back and fourth between the two multiple times throughout the day and the night. 
> 
> this is human biology 101..
> 
> but as it relates to bodybuilding or 'bro science' , um yeah the fact that you do not need to be depleted or 'fat adapted' in order to burn body fat can be seen with guys like Jay Cutler who dieting and got down to 4% body fat while consuming 800 grams of carbs per day.
> 
> 
> I think the KETO whacko's have somewhat brainwashed people into thinking that in order to burn fat you have to be fat adapted and not have any carbs. this is utter BS (though for most people burning more fat then carbs for energy is easier when carbs are low.. this is just common sense)
> 
> we all burn both fat and carbs all day long every single day. some of us may happen to be better carb burners for energy and some of us better fat burners for energy . but our body can switch back and fourth between the two at a moments notice


Actually the body has 3 energy ways: glycolysis, aerobic, and phosphagen system.

You cant compare Jay Cutler to a normal bodybuilder, who might be on some Superman juice and consuming carbs because he is on insulin .

----------


## RaginCajun

> Rajun cajun -- maybe I totally misunderstood your question. so my answers above may be totally off base.
> 
> but the way I read the question, made me think that you were assuming that a human body couldn't burn both carbs and burn fat for fuel. or that somehow eating a bowl of oatmeal would stop a body from being able to burn fat for energy during a workout.
> 
> the body burns fat just fine without being depleted or carbs. plenty of athletes around the world stay very lean year round eating a majority of their calories form carbs. the reason this is so is because they are simply efficient at burning fat for fuel and carbs for fuel at the same time.


No no, I know the body can do that, just the way it was written, it came off different. 

I like the way you have his diet laid out and may play with it some.

We are on the same page broham

----------


## Obs

> this means your really efficient at utilizing DIETARY fat for energy. some people are not. some peoples bodies are way more prone to storing dietary fat, and then after its stored they use it as energy if needed.
> some people are so prone to storing dietary fat , that if they had not eaten a single meal for months and were on the verge of starving to death, that if they ate a meal that only contained fat, their body would still store 90% of it first before tapping into it for energy.
> 
> you on the other hand sound to be efficient at utilizing dietary fat for energy. as well as carbs.
> and again repeating myself here  the body can very easily burn both fat and carbs for energy at the same time. just cause your consuming carbs to fuel your workouts does not mean your not also going to burn body fat.
> I'm sure you've noticed this about yourself
> 
> 
> note: of course if your taking in more and more dietary carbs, fats, or total calories then your expending, your going to end up storing the extra (but that does not mean your always just going to get fat .. thats a misconception)


I think only one time did I ever exceed and I added 2% bodyfat after 6 month of fast food and everything I could shovel. It is simply impossible for me to get fatter on even low dose tren though. 

I kinda had figured you could burn both I was justvusing myself as an example. Though I realize this varys immensely person to person.
This is why pretty much all cookie cutter diets are complete bullshit imo.

Good to see you took in his metabolism as a factor and past eating.

----------


## charger69

> I think only one time did I ever exceed and I added 2% bodyfat after 6 month of fast food and everything I could shovel. It is simply impossible for me to get fatter on even low dose tren though. 
> 
> I kinda had figured you could burn both I was justvusing myself as an example. Though I realize this varys immensely person to person.
> This is why pretty much all cookie cutter diets are complete bullshit imo.
> 
> Good to see you took in his metabolism as a factor and past eating.


Yes Obs- you are a special case- REAL special. LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Obs

> Yes Obs- you are a special case- REAL special. LOL
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I am bound to be good at something. 
I will probably pay gh to build a diet for a cutting phase before my first show

----------


## charger69

> I am bound to be good at something. 
> I will probably pay gh to build a diet for a cutting phase before my first show


You are too special even for GH. LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Obs

> You are too special even for GH. LOL
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


So just how special am I?

----------


## charger69

> So just how special am I?


Those words can only be whispered in your ear! LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

Sorry Balance.... I will give you beck your thread. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> Sorry Balance.... I will give you beck your thread. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Nope! Perma jacked
(Joking)
Did he post his stack yet?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

No haven’t posted stack yet. I actually have some items in the works but still need to talk over a few more things with GH. One of my many traits is being indecisive and that is definitely playing a factor here. On a good note though my diet has been seriously on point and training in check (even some cardio!). 

I just started training split laid out by GH on Saturday. This training regimen has a lot more volume than what I am used to. In the past my training while low in volume was high on intensity. To give you an example of past training routines on leg days I basically would do 1 or 2 warmup sets followed by 4 sets of squats (reps never under 6) and this was all I did for quads and glutes however there was never a problem with me being sore for days. The remainder of my leg days was just 4 sets of leg curls and 4 sets of calves. So I’m the past lowerbody days was just 12 working sets, yet provided plenty stimulus to be sore. Upper body days for me in the past we’re quite similar but split into two days push and pull basically. Even those upperbody days only had me doing 16 working sets. Now though with GH’s program the volume has increased substantially. Thing is in order to keep the lifting sessions reasonably timed ( I don’t like to lift beyond 1 hour) I have to hustle. The only downside though is right now I can already tell with shorter rest periods I am substantially weaker as the sets progress into the workout. I guess this is something I will hopefully adapt to learn to work with. Here’s an idea of the exercise from yesterday’s workout, I’m only going to list the exercises and number of sets to save myself some embarrassment (figure all sets listed are minimum of 6 reps usually around 8 on average).

Seated row machine (hammerstrength) 5 sets
Tbar rows (chest supported) 5 sets
Lat pulldown w/ V bar grip 5 sets
Shrugs (used hammer strength here) 5 sets 
supersetted w/ stnd bent over reverse flys 5 sets
Snatch grip rack pulls 5 sets (awesome exercise I 
had not done before)
Hammer curls 4 sets 
Bicep ez bar curls standing 4 sets
Abs 100 reps rest pause till reach 100
15 minutes mild cardio (140 bpm)

While those are not all working sets it’s still a lot of volume compared to what I was doing (38 sets vs 16). I have a nice level of soreness today most notably in areas of my upper back that I don’t usually feel sore so that’s awesome. Also worth noting the snatch grip rack pulls were a new movement/exercise for me and while I’m not sure my form is the greatest yet I really enjoyed that exercise. 

Good stuff so far as I really find the challenge of new movements keeps it interesting.

----------


## balance

Forgot to post this OT

I don’t wear button shirts too often. Saturday night was wife’s Christmas party for work so in the morning I got my button shirt out to check fit as haven’t worn in a while. Try it on and rrrrip lol



No biggy though as neck was way too small now too.

PS 
I enjoy the derailments as it lets me know someone is reading my dribble.  :Smilie:

----------


## charger69

> No havent posted stack yet. I actually have some items in the works but still need to talk over a few more things with GH. One of my many traits is being indecisive and that is definitely playing a factor here. On a good note though my diet has been seriously on point and training in check (even some cardio!). 
> 
> I just started training split laid out by GH on Saturday. This training regimen has a lot more volume than what I am used to. In the past my training while low in volume was high on intensity. To give you an example of past training routines on leg days I basically would do 1 or 2 warmup sets followed by 4 sets of squats (reps never under 6) and this was all I did for quads and glutes however there was never a problem with me being sore for days. The remainder of my leg days was just 4 sets of leg curls and 4 sets of calves. So Im the past lowerbody days was just 12 working sets, yet provided plenty stimulus to be sore. Upper body days for me in the past were quite similar but split into two days push and pull basically. Even those upperbody days only had me doing 16 working sets. Now though with GHs program the volume has increased substantially. Thing is in order to keep the lifting sessions reasonably timed ( I dont like to lift beyond 1 hour) I have to hustle. The only downside though is right now I can already tell with shorter rest periods I am substantially weaker as the sets progress into the workout. I guess this is something I will hopefully adapt to learn to work with. Heres an idea of the exercise from yesterdays workout, Im only going to list the exercises and number of sets to save myself some embarrassment (figure all sets listed are minimum of 6 reps usually around 8 on average).
> 
> Seated row machine (hammerstrength) 5 sets
> Tbar rows (chest supported) 5 sets
> Lat pulldown w/ V bar grip 5 sets
> Shrugs (used hammer strength here) 5 sets 
> supersetted w/ stnd bent over reverse flys 5 sets
> ...


How many times a week are you doing this? Is there a reason that you donrear delts with traps? I am assuming that you work on the mid and front on another day. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

> How many times a week are you doing this? Is there a reason that you donrear delts with traps? I am assuming that you work on the mid and front on another day. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes front and mid delts are done with chest tricep days. Also that rear delt superset also seems to burn out the traps at the same time. 

The training program GH setup has 7 completely different workouts. I have always worked out pretty much as often as my body allows (taking days off usually just when I feel like I have accumulated too much soreness, etc.). Since trt I have been easily going 4 consecutive days lifting before feeling a bit run down, however there are easily times where I have lifted 7-10 consecutive days. So the program GH designed doesn’t really have a set day schedule like mon=chest. Right now though I’m kind of working around elbow issues which has me doing 2-3 consecutive days lifting then taking a day off as needed. 

The program split is broken up in 3 phases. 

PHASE 1
Mechanical Tension and Progressive Overload Emphasis Workout 1 - Chest, Front Delts, Side Delts, Triceps Workout 2 – Back, Rear Delts, Traps, Biceps
Workout 3 – Legs , hamstrings, quads, calves
PHASE 2
Metabolite and Blood Volume/Pump Emphasis Workout 4 - Chest, Front Delts, Side Delts, Triceps Workout 5 – Back, Rear Delts, Traps, Biceps Workout 6 – Legs , hamstrings, quads, calves
PHASE 3
Weak Body Part or Touch up Work Emphasis Workout 7 – Biceps, Triceps, Forearms
Repeat and go back to phase 1 and workout 1.

So if lifting 3 days on 1 day off it looks like I would get 9-10 days (elbows willing) before I come back to do the same scheduled workout. With that said I would still be hitting a certain body part twice per week but with different lifting emphasis. This type of split actually reminds me a bit of what Loui Simmons and West Side do (hitting muscle groups twice a week) but each session has a different very different emphasis and goal.

----------


## Proximal

Congrats on the start B, this is going to be good. 

But JFC, I teach anatomy & physiology FFS, and reading these threads is a pain in the ass because I’m trying to relax after work.

----------


## charger69

> Congrats on the start B, this is going to be good. 
> 
> But JFC, I teach anatomy & physiology FFS, and reading these threads is a pain in the ass because Im trying to relax after work.


Reading these is my relaxation. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> Reading these is my relaxation. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Lucky! Im illiterate 

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

I am trying traps and rear delts.. I did it tonight. It actually felt great. I have specifically focusing on reAr delts because I want them to shine on my reAr double bicep.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> I am trying traps and rear delts.. I did it tonight. It actually felt great. I have specifically focusing on reAr delts because I want them to shine on my reAr double bicep.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I always felt like rear delts are similar to front. As in, a lot of exercises hit the front delts, so they only need to be explicitly trained if they're a lagging body part. Isn't it the same w the rear delts? Any time you're doing a compound pulling motion with the upper body, they get activated.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

From my old lifting regimen front delts were toast after standard bb bench, standing overhead press, and dips. Thing is my rear delts were never noticeably sore on this day, same thing training nack and bicep days (never felt rear delta were exhausted). This new program has movements focusing on rear delt activation and I can feel it! Hopefully this translates into bring up my rear delts and delts overall. It’s funny when I think about my own physique while my upper arms are likely my biggest lagging body part, after that it feels like the second lagging part is everything lol. I previously focused my lifting on compound movements so things all just progressed (or not progressed) at a fairly even rate maybe.

----------


## Obs

> From my old lifting regimen front delts were toast after standard bb bench, standing overhead press, and dips. Thing is my rear delts were never noticeably sore on this day, same thing training nack and bicep days (never felt rear delta were exhausted). This new program has movements focusing on rear delt activation and I can feel it! Hopefully this translates into bring up my rear delts and delts overall. It’s funny when I think about my own physique while my upper arms are likely my biggest lagging body part, after that it feels like the second lagging part is everything lol. I previously focused my lifting on compound movements so things all just progressed (or not progressed) at a fairly even rate maybe.


Spot injections of short esters and suspension helps arms a little. I had the same issue forever. 
I honestly think long terrorizing workouts help most.

----------


## balance

Had great leg day yesterday. Nice level of soreness just starting to fill in  :Smilie: . 

Today was chest, front delt, side delt, triceps
Since this day focuses on pump most working sets were 15-20 rep range

Machine seated chest press
5 sets

Pec deck
5 sets

Smith machine guillotine press
4 sets

Standing cable flys supersetted w tricep pushdowns 4 sets each

Seated DB ohp supersetted onearm db tricep press. 4 sets each

Side lateral dB raises drop set 
3 sets

Abs 100 reps

18 min cardio 140bpm

This type of training today is very different for me and found it very challenging. Todays focus was on the pump using higher reps. The weight I was moving was a lot lower than what I thought I would have been capable of. This 15-20 rep sets is definitely something I hope to acclimate to. Definitely check your ego at the door type stuff when I go over 12 reps. Its all good though and enjoy the change.

----------


## Proximal

> Reading these is my relaxation. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sorry, meant with respect to the complexity and degree of knowledge that goes into some of GH’s replies.

----------


## charger69

> Congrats on the start B, this is going to be good. 
> 
> But JFC, I teach anatomy & physiology FFS, and reading these threads is a pain in the ass because Im trying to relax after work.


I am wondering..... my knees go out at 45 degree angle when the feet are straight. Could this mean that I need to work differently than a normal person. Ie foot position pointed in more would be the same as a normal person straight?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

> Had great leg day yesterday. Nice level of soreness just starting to fill in . 
> 
> Today was chest, front delt, side delt, triceps
> Since this day focuses on pump most working sets were 15-20 rep range
> 
> Machine seated chest press
> 5 sets
> 
> Pec deck
> ...


What was the leg workout?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Obs

> What was the leg workout?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


100 reps of kicking your ass for asking!

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> I am wondering..... my knees go out at 45 degree angle when the feet are straight. Could this mean that I need to work differently than a normal person. Ie foot position pointed in more would be the same as a normal person straight?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Knees in line w toes 
My knees... Are weird.... They don't hinge perfectly in line with the leg. So I don't keep my feet straight, but slightly more inward to compensate. Otherwise there's too much pressure on the ACL

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## Obs

> Knees in line w toes 
> My knees... Are weird.... They don't hinge perfectly in line with the leg. So I don't keep my feet straight, but slightly more inward to compensate. Otherwise there's too much pressure on the ACL
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


I be damned you are right....
Shit... No wonder extensions been messing me up.
TY

----------


## GearHeaded

just wanted to break down some synergy of Balances program real quick. the Diet, the training program, and the AAS protocols are all designed to work together synergistically. theres a rhyme and reason to the way things are laid out here.

heres the deal. we are starting off in an anabolic phase where we are really breaking down the muscle and trying to build new tissue. The diet is set up where we are not in a strict calorie deficit at this time because we need the calories to help put on new tissue and recover, but the TIMING of the meals and the choices of macros used throughout the week have their purpose and will still allow for lipolytic/fat burning opportunities but also allow and provide enough calories for anabolic opportunity..

this is also in line with the the training program and how it is set up. in phase 1 of the workout split we are breaking down tissue and using heavy compounds and progressive overload (and intensity techniques), BUT only during select times. we are "picking our battles'' sort of speak. this will give us the stimulus we need to put on new tissue, but without overloading or impairing recovery. We then have a second phase of training, phase 2 that provides a metabolite emphasis of driving blood and is more volume and 'pump' orientated. this allows for more 'cell swelling' effects and building UP the tissue (as opposed to breaking it down). we incorporate more drop sets and higher reps as well.
we are hitting hypetrophy from multiple angles and stimulus in this program but at select times with specific and select exercises and rep schemes and intensity techniques. some of the techniques we use are , muscle rounds, rest pause, and of course drop sets and super sets.

this diet and training program also go in line with the AAS protocols. which during this first phase (ie, first 6 weeks) is an emphasis on JUST repairing and putting on new tissue. we are not tying to 'blow up' with water or glycogen. we just want something there that provides us with purely anabolic effects and speeds up recovery and helps us build new tissue.
so that means running test as a base, not using an AI so we have elevated estrogen levels to aide in the anabolic processes (like increase iGF) and adding in a purely Anabolic steroid .
later on into the secondary phase (weeks 7-12) we will use AAS protocols that will enhance the tissue we have built (ie, make that new tissue grow) and so that means using some Androgens to really drive glycogen and fill out the muscle we've been tearing down and building up (but at the same time limiting water and bloat and achieving a 'dry' look so the muscle looks hard and full)
the diet will be modified as well to compliment these things.. as well as will the training protocols.

all 3 of these things, diet, training, and AAS , should compliment each other and work together. you shouldn't just randomly pick a diet, randomly pick a training program and randomly pick some steroids to run. then need to have a purpose and reason and all work together.
thats my philosophy and mind set at least. 

I can go into more specifics and details of Balances diet, training, and AAS in another post to give you more examples of how they all work in synergy .

----------


## Proximal

Impressive GH. We have PMed before, we’ll be doing some work together next year. 

I’m telling you, between Balance & Gallowmere - this is going to be SPECIAL. We’ve got two future superstar physiques on the rise & we get to witness the transformation.

----------


## Obs

> Knees in line w toes 
> My knees... Are weird.... They don't hinge perfectly in line with the leg. So I don't keep my feet straight, but slightly more inward to compensate. Otherwise there's too much pressure on the ACL
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


Your statement just changed my quad game. 
I employed the turn in until my knee was straight throughout, after a pyramid leg press session...
I just hit the sweep of my leg like never in my life with no knee pain. 

I am gonna catch up to charger now.

Thank you HMB

I cant hardly get the pants on I wore here.

----------


## HoldMyBeer

> Your statement just changed my quad game. 
> I employed the turn in until my knee was straight throughout, after a pyramid leg press session...
> I just hit the sweep of my leg like never in my life with no knee pain. 
> 
> I am gonna catch up to charger now.
> 
> Thank you HMB
> 
> I cant hardly get the pants on I wore here.


I'm glad to be able to help you for a change

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

> What was the leg workout?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The last leg day was a phase 2 workout. As mentioned earlier the workouts are broken up mainly in two phases (there actually is a phase 3 but that’s just an extra day after phase two where I hit the most lagging body part which for me is arms). So phase 1 workouts drive hypertrophty through mechanical tension and progressive overload. Phase two hypertrophy is focused on metabolite and blood volume/pump emphasis. Basically this phase two style of lifting is new to me, in the past I really focused on compound lifts going as hard as I could to move as much weight as possible ( 6-8 rep range), this constant type of lifting is very likely the cause of my elbow issues. 

Now though every other workout for each body part has a day of lifting where I am really just focused on the pump and feeling the muscle fully contracting. These phase 2 days my the nature of the goal (maximize pump) means the weights are lower but the reps are higher. Here’s a rundown of the phase two leg day exercises and the rep schemes. Note rir means reps in reserve, usually noted on the non working sets. 

Hamstring curls
2 sets 15 reps rir 5
3 working sets 15 reps 

Hack squat
1 set 15 reps rir 5
4 working sets 15 reps 

Leg press wide stance
2 working sets 20 reps
2 sets of muscle rounds

Leg press narrow stance
2 working sets
2 sets of muscle rounds

Standing calf raises
5 sets 25 reps 

Leg extension
2 muscle rounds
1 rest pause set with 25+ reps

100 reps on an ab machine took me 5 sets with very short breaks. All lifting days have ab work with 100 reps with as few pauses as necessary to complete. 

Now if your wondering what is a muscle round it’s a type of rep scheme. Basically it’s a set of 25 reps broken down in 5 rep increments with 10 second pauses every 5 reps. 

This type of lifting for the pump is new to me as I mentioned. So it is quite humbling to realize how little I can lift when sets go beyond the12 rep range. What’s also interesting is getting a feel for what it is to have several reps in reserve. From all my previous lifting I have a very good feel for having only 1 or two reps left in the tank but guaging 5 reps in reserve I’m like hmm I guess this is about right lol, this sort of in tune feel will hopefully come with time in this new programming method. 

Had the pleasure of talking with GH extensively over this past week to help get me dialed in with all of this and many other aspects. I can’t begin to describe what a wealth of information he was able to convey to me. He does a really great job of making very complex topics understandable and relatable to even someone such as myself.

----------


## HoldMyBeer

I'm still curious to hear what the stack will be ... Will it just be a standard 250 every 3.5? Will there be mast? The suspense is killing me

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

> I'm still curious to hear what the stack will be ... Will it just be a standard 250 every 3.5? Will there be mast? The suspense is killing me
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


the AAS protocol was modified a couple times. After some discussion and time to think about things we decided to 'pull back' some on the AAS, as we have some existing health conditions and blood work out of range that we don't want to make worse (blood pressure and lipids). 
So we decided on going with the most "healthy" stack we can at this point in time.

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

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

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


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

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

weeks 7-8
400mg test
250mg Mast EOD

weeks 9-12
400mg test
200mg Mast EOD
50mg Winstol per day
25mg Tren A per day
Clen 80 mcg

----------


## balance

> I'm still curious to hear what the stack will be ... Will it just be a standard 250 every 3.5? Will there be mast? The suspense is killing me
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


The original plan was

weeks 1-6
test 300mg per week
Primo depot/E 150mg EOD
Anavar 50mg per day

weeks 7-8
test 300mg per week
Masteron P 250mg EOD

weeks 9-12
test 200mg per week
Masteron p 150mg EOD
Winstrol 50mg per day

This plan has things put together for very synergistic 
reasons (by plan I mean compounds, diet, training) to help achieve my goals. While the diet and training I am committed to I just had a really hard time with some of the above compounds, those being anavar and winstrol. 

I have had elevated lipids for sometime now. So keeping my cholesterol reasonable to me is of great importance. I understand that many of these compound effect people differently and that the cholesterol effects on my lipid profile are temporary. However when I stand back and take into account many things (current short term goal, long term goal, current health, longterm health, family history of cardiovascular issues, etc) currently I just can’t comfortably run anavar or winstrol. I know what everyone is thinking here. Omg he doesn’t want to run a woman’s compound lol. Here’s the thing for a man to see results from var the dosages required generally have major impacts on lipids. If I were in my 20-30s I likely would have a different view here but I’m not. Having said all of that the first 6 weeks is basically 400mg test c and 525mg primo per week. 
I’m hoping this balance will allow me to make good solid progress to both my short and long term goals.

----------


## balance

Quick update 
Not too much to report. Training going excellent, eating sleeping on track too. Quick pic of late night meal from last night. 9oz top sirloin and 1.5 servings of nuts.

----------


## GearHeaded

> Quick update 
> Not too much to report. Training going excellent, eating sleeping on track too. Quick pic of late night meal from last night. 9oz top sirloin and 1.5 servings of nuts. 
> 
> Attachment 175223


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

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

----------


## KennyJ

> GH- you are making this too complex... Just stop eating... LOL
> Sorry, I sensed too much serious going on. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I seriously think GH can access twice as much of his brain than most people. It's like he's plugged into one of those supercomputers.

----------


## charger69

> Your statement just changed my quad game. 
> I employed the turn in until my knee was straight throughout, after a pyramid leg press session...
> I just hit the sweep of my leg like never in my life with no knee pain. 
> 
> I am gonna catch up to charger now.
> 
> Thank you HMB
> 
> I cant hardly get the pants on I wore here.


You forgot..... I am doing the same thing. LOL
My fing legs are goin to grow even if I die trying. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

> I'm glad to be able to help you for a change
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


HMB- Fuck Obs- just keep the secrets between us . LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

> I seriously think GH can access twice as much of his brain than most people. It's like he's plugged into one of those supercomputers.


I hate to tell you .:::: GH is not a real person. He is the Alexa of AAS. LOL


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

> you know its interesting, I just started working with a few new clients this week and have been going over possible diet protocols, and one of them has similar goals and schedule as does Balance so you'd figure their diets may look the same. BUT with this particular client we can NOT have a higher fat meal like this at night at the end of the day (where as balance has his fats backloaded and does). This is because of a certain lifestyle choice this client has that fats at night would be detrimental to his physique.
> so even though goals and everything on the surface may look the same, its small details and lifestyle choices that can really alter how your diet needs to be laid out for the most effective results .
> 
> this is why I don't do 'cookie cutter' diets. every individual, circumstances, and situation are completely different even if they may appear very similar on the surface. as a diet coach, my accounting for all these little details can make a big difference in the results a client gets


You sort of touched on it..... its like you read my mind.....
Why does Balance have so many fats at night?
I am like your other client... Intry to keep the fats lower in the evening. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

> You sort of touched on it..... it’s like you read my mind.....
> Why does Balance have so many fats at night?
> I am like your other client... Intry to keep the fats lower in the evening.


He works out in the morning and we are putting a lot of his carbs in the first half of the day closer to the workout window when Glut 4 levels are going to be elevated. as the day progresses Glut 4 levels go down and we switch over to fat.
(this is just the opposite with people who train in the evening) . Also, if you look at his last meal (the steak and nuts) you'll see this is going to be a good slow digesting protein source with the fats in there to slow digestion down even more. as he is sleeping/fasted for 8 hours this meal will slowly release amino acids into the blood stream and sustain him and limit catabolism. not the case with a chicken and white rice meal before bed

----------


## KennyJ

> the AAS protocol was modified a couple times. After some discussion and time to think about things we decided to 'pull back' some on the AAS, as we have some existing health conditions and blood work out of range that we don't want to make worse (blood pressure and lipids). 
> So we decided on going with the most "healthy" stack we can at this point in time.
> 
> so we are planning 
> week 1-6
> 400mg test
> 525mg primo
> week 7-12 (this will depend on how things are going)
> 400mg test
> ...


GH, is it your preference to always have an anabolic phase first and then move to an androgenic phase or is this just a plan to fulfill his current goals?

----------


## GearHeaded

> GH, is it your preference to always have an anabolic phase first and then move to an androgenic phase or is this just a plan to fulfill his current goals?


I often times start with an Estrogen phase, then an Androgen phase and finish off with an Anabolic phase (with an anti cortisol phase with that as well). It all depends on the person , the diet and the training protocols and what we are trying to accomplish and what we have to work with.

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

----------


## KennyJ

> I often times start with an Estrogen phase, then an Androgen phase and finish off with an Anabolic phase (with an anti cortisol phase with that as well). It all depends on the person , the diet and the training protocols and what we are trying to accomplish and what we have to work with.
> 
> With Balance we are being very conservative with the drugs, so we can't really throw all these 'phases' at him right now. 
> we are not doing an estrogen phase at all. just the anabolic phase to start the growth of new tissue and the androgenic phase to harden up and fill out.
> so yeah its totally dependent on the situation, context, and person what phases are implemented


Thanks, a perfectly explained answer as always.

----------


## GearHeaded

> Thanks, a perfectly explained answer as always.


well there is a specific "rhyme and reason" to the things I do and promote..

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

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

----------


## HoldMyBeer

OP
How's your training any everything going?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Drs care for BP. 

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


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## charger69

How does water retention caused from the estrogen phase promote growth?
I realize that glycogen needs tos bind with water to get to the muscle, but the estrogen phase would be excess water wouldnt it?
My thought process is that you have the right amount of water for the glycogen to begin with and the estrogen phase would bring excess that would smooth you out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

> OP
> How's your training any everything going?
> 
> Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk


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

Lifting wise I havent seen any jumps in strength yet but pumps are definitely good. Also interesting it seams like my body hair is growing faster than usual, maybe the primo?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

> I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Drs care for BP. 
> 
> Also, I am impressed at your ability to handle all of the curve balls thrown at you. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have appt with dr this coming week specifically for this. I have been borderline elevated bp for last couple years and between trt and gaining weight this is something would like to get addressed. As far as atenolol I dont think that would be ideal for me as I have a low resting heart rate. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

> How does water retention caused from the estrogen phase promote growth?
> I realize that glycogen needs tos bind with water to get to the muscle, but the estrogen phase would be excess water wouldn’t it?
> My thought process is that you have the right amount of water for the glycogen to begin with and the estrogen phase would bring excess that would smooth you out.


regarding water retention promoting growth (ie, osmostic super compensation) . see some of my thoughts here.
https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...pensation.html

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

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

----------


## GearHeaded

> I have a silly question... if Balance has high BP, then why not use atenolol. I know that you are not a Dr., but I think that it would be better to use something than nothing at all. I am making the assumption that he is not under Dr’s care for BP. 
> 
> Also, I am impressed at your ability to handle all of the curve balls thrown at you.


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

well from Soccer mom clients to juice heads, I've gotta deal with lots of curve balls

----------


## Proximal

> I have appt with dr this coming week specifically for this. I have been borderline elevated bp for last couple years and between trt and gaining weight this is something would like to get addressed. As far as atenolol I dont think that would be ideal for me as I have a low resting heart rate. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You could try a low dosage. Didnt see too much drop in my HR. Whats your BP numbers if I may ask?

And, IF I may, could the jump be attributed to anxiety?

----------


## balance

> You could try a low dosage. Didnt see too much drop in my HR. Whats your BP numbers if I may ask?


I need to get a home monitor as when Im out and about at grocery store or other places I see large fluctuations on those machines taking back to back readings. Generally though its around 135/88 but can fluctuate. My resting hr though is generally low 50s but can be a little higher or lower at times. 

Its interesting though as GH has me doing light cardio (15-20 minutes) after lifting. I never was one to track HR on cardio as I dont do much of it anyway. Whats interesting though is gh said to shoot around 120 bpm, at that rate I dont feel like Im hardly doing anything. I usually shoot for more like 140 hr and that still has me barely break a sweat after 20 minutes, interesting thing is while lifting I sweat quite a bit but dont know where my hr is but Im pretty sure is in the 140 zone. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

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


possibly your natty levels of HGH and IGF (which you confirmed is elevated on blood work) being elevated from dropping your AI . more growth potential, even body hair eh  :Smilie:

----------


## Proximal

50’s. You’re right, the Atenolol will likely not be an option.

----------


## GearHeaded

just for guys reading this thread.. Charger was right, that if you have BP issues and your not under a doctor supervision for it then taking something (self prescribing) like Atenolol is well worth it.

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

but just do your research and make sure its going to work for your situation. like Balance with his super low resting heart rate, it just wasn't really ideal for him

----------


## balance

Little New Years Eve update. Lifting going really good. Had really good arm day yesterday with amazing pump. Went to pcp today and was prescribed bp med. hopefully this gets me in a better range, also picked up a home bp monitor to better track things. And of course an evening meal. 

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

Hope everyone is doing great now that the holidays have passed. Unfortunately I haven’t been on top of updating this thread as of late but hope to get a bit more active in here. 

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

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

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

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

balance

----------


## Proximal

Happy New Year, glad all is well.

----------


## balance

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

----------


## GearHeaded

> Things have been going really good here past week. I have been back to my more normal training routine of 3 - 5 days on 1 day off, I just go by feel and if I collectively have to much soreness I tend to take a day to recover.


just to explain how my training programming is generally set up, and why its easy for Balance to make on the fly adjustments like this..

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

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

----------


## Proximal

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


JC, you're Julian Edelman from the NE Patriots! Shouldn't you be more concerned about the Super Bowl? 

Looking great Balance.

----------


## balance

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

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

Ps heres a pic I had to take after having one of my kale shakes. These things are a challenge to drink without a huge mess. The green stains like permanent grass stains on clothes Im hoping it doesnt do the same elsewhere :Wink: 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

I just want to clarify guys, my diet programs do have micro nutrients covered and have 1-2 servings of veggies per day. but I do NOT mandate Kale shakes  :Wink:

----------


## balance

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

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

Thank you
b


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

Alright folks I want to do a little summary here to share some of the things I learned and experienced on this past 3 months journey. If you have any questions please post up or pm me. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you
b




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## ghettoboyd

you look great brother, nice job...

----------


## Proximal

Amazing transformation!

Yes, GH is INCREDIBLE! 

TY for the pluses & minuses of your compounds! 

What's next?

----------


## balance

> you look great brother, nice job...


Thanks brother means a lot coming from guys like you. Your contest end pics looked awesome. 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

> Amazing transformation!
> 
> Yes, GH is INCREDIBLE! 
> 
> TY for the pluses & minuses of your compounds! 
> 
> What's next?


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

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


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Proximal

> Big thanks to you too buddy! I have been closely following along with your experiments too, your progress looks fantastic too especially as of late. 
> 
> Well I dropped out tren last week. But before I return to trt dose cruise Im going to try 3 weeks of test at 1200-1400 and drop mast down to 300mg. Basically Im just running this at the end to see if my growth is tapped out for this run. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


TY, but looking at you and the contestants, I know I am not even at a starting point yet.

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

----------


## charger69

Balance- you summed it up excellent!!

Its funny you mention mast and an AI. I was just thinking the other day how I used to preach an AI was like a seatbelt. Why wouldnt you put it on? I also used to preach mast was no good over 10%. GH taught me differently. 
I just did my first ever real recomp. I lost bf and maintained weight and mast played a key role. I started around 16% bf. 

BTW- you look great!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## balance

Thanks charger!
Thats interesting and excellent to hear that mast seams to be helping retain more muscle through your cut. I been following along your log and you are looking contest ready for sure. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## GearHeaded

so I just wanted to add a little something to this log which may perhaps help some other guys out or at least open the doors to 'new ideas' in regards to AAS usage. 

I'm just going to go over the AAS usage that was involved in this. This was Balances first cycle essentially, but having been on TRT.

so instead of doing the common (on online forums at least) test only first cycle, just bump TRT to 500mg per week. We did an actual 'steroid stack' for a first cycle. yep, I know pretty friggin crazy to run actual 'steroids' on a first "steroid cycle" eh , rather then just test.
so heres what we did with a little bit of the reasons why.

- take away the AI (arimidex , aromasin ) completely . don't use it at all, but keep it on hand. he was on TRT and had an AI for use.
- bump the Test dosage to 500mg per week
- introduce an Anabolic steroid , Primobolan in this case, at 600mg per week

so goal here. get the androgen levels elevated. get the estrogen levels elevated along with those. introduce the steroid to provide the anabolic benefits. the synergy of all 3 of those things should start a good muscle building basis. the primobolan would not just be there as the anabolic work horse, but would provide additional benefits of lower SHBG to free up more androgens, while at the same time provide for just a tiny bit of anti estrogen benefits to keep the negative sides of estrogen at bay (limit bloat for example).

next part 
- no AI's still
- get the test dosage up to 1000mg per week. we did this by adding test prop to all his injections.
- keep the Primo going steady at 600

goal here. well I told balance over the phone that 1000mg per week of test is kinda the sweet spot for test to be really anabolic. when guys are promoting and messing around with this 500 or so test dosages, its just elevated TRT. they get the water gains and fluff and androgen benefits, but the real anabolic properties really kick in at the 1000mg per week range.

he was doing great at 1000mg of test per week and 600mg primo and no AI. new tissue was being built.

next phase. lets begin to blow up that new tissue, yet get leaner in the process. So we phase in Masteron . we Started with 800mg, but tapered down to 600mg after 2 weeks. then we phased out the Primo. the Masteron was going to add to the androgenic load of the cycle. it will act as a pure androgen, yet its more anabolic then test. it will also help keep negative estrogen and progestin side effects at bay.
kept test at 1000mg per week.

he got bigger and leaner at this point, and a whole heck of a lot stronger. even though we implemented a lot more cardio and cut calories.

well about 10-12 weeks or so has went by. the overall cycle was a success for sure. we went completely away from what a first cycle is "supposed to be" and we broke all the newbie rules and had no hiccups or negative side effects really.

so how do we end this things. volumization phase. the diet was going to go higher carb. what better way to drive those carbs and fill out then using a bit of Tren . and we are already running the Masteron in full force which works great with tren.
so the last 3-4 weeks Tren was ran at 350mg per week. results were great. only negative side was sleep was effected.


so to recap, what did Balances first cycle entail over all
1000mg of test
600mg of primo
600mg of mast
350mg of tren
No AI

now thats NOT a beginner cycle !! but the way we did things in phases and progressions is what made it very success first cycle, even though it was completely contrary to the normal dogma.

of course these things were all taken with guidance and supervision and not just randomly by some newb. Balance is a super smart guy and did tons of research on his own to confirm the things we were doing.. of course, I do appreciate his level of trust he put in me when I was laying things out that were quite contrary to the normal orthodoxy you see online.

----------


## Family_guy

Wtf. How did I miss this??? This was freakin awesome. I binge read this thing! Lol

----------

