Blap Blaow

hehe- although I'm on the last week of my White Blood/Green Bulge stack I thought I'd share my log with the rest of this board. I havn't quite finished though so there will still be updates for a week or so. Enjoy!!

Blap Blaow

Blap’s Spewing Blood™’n’Bulge™!
Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

If you hadn’t guessed by now this will be a 30 day log to chart my progress with Controlled Lab’s White Blood™ and Green Bulge™. I know there are dozens of logs out there on this stack already, and you’re all probably sick of reading them, but I have my own reasons for wanting to keep an online log.

I realise this ain’t the best time for a CL log since a lot of the attention’s gonna be on the Red Acid guys (good luck by the way, I’ll be watching too!) but oh well, as long as I see results I’m not bothered.

I want to keep this log as detailed as possible for one simple reason. I have gotten extremely frustrated in the past with products not working for me. I hope that by keeping a detailed log I can identify possible issues which may contribute to poor results. I’m not writing this off from the start by any means, I’m just conscious of past experiences.

I have some NOW Glycerine and bulk CEE to potentially add to the stack but, since I have never tried any of these products, I think the sensible thing to do would be to run the stack as it is for at least a week if not 2 before I throw anything else into the mix. We’ll see how it goes.

By the way, this is gonna be my first ever online log. How exciting!

Time to for the fun to begin…

Blap Blaow

The Products-

You should all know about Green Bulge™ and White Blood™ by now but for the sake of thoroughness here’s some of the blurb;


White Blood™

White Blood™ is the most complete nitric oxide and transport enhancing formula around. It uses ethyl ester technology to enhance the delivery of the two key ingredients, arginine ethyl ester di-hcl (AEE) and ornithine ethyl ester di-hcl (OEE). These two amino acids are bonded to an ester, which increases the absorbability of both compounds. Esters are formed by a reaction between carboxylic acid and alcohol.

The problem with most first-generation nitric oxide enhancers is that they degrade severely when ingested and do not reach their target to perform their duty. With esterfication, the arginine and ornithine can pass the digestive system intact and deliver incredible pumps and greater vasodilation than arginine AKG (alpha-ketoglutarate), which is contained in the most popular nitric oxide products, or any other nitric oxide enhancer could ever have achieved in the past.

The beauty of esterficiation is that less of the active material is needed to do a better job than the underlying non-esterfied compound. For instance, the average 200 pound man only needs about 1.5-1.75 grams of arginine ethyl ester before a workout for amazing pumps and enhanced nutrient uptake, whereas he would need more than three times the amount of arginine AKG to even come close to the same type of pumps.

Larger doses of these compounds put stress on the body so AEE and OEE are much better choices since less of each is needed to illicit the same or better response as larger doses of the first-generation materials.

Esterfication also prolongs the effects that each of these two compounds has. When you are in the gym you want your pump to last as long as your workout. You are tired of the current nitric oxide enhancers that last 15 minutes into your workout then the effects fizzle out. White Blood’s™ pumps and increased nutrient uptake will last your entire workout and then some.

You have tried nitric oxide products in the past and none of them worked for you, right? Well that has been one of the problems with nitric oxide supplements. They were only effective for about 50-60% of the population. 40-50% of individuals were non-responders at the recommended and affordable dosages.

White Blood’s™ esterfied compounds work for nearly everybody, even past nitric oxide non-responders. Our tests have shown that White Blood™ will illicit pumps in at least 95% of the population. This occurs because most of the non-responders damaged the compounds in their digestive system, but with esterfication comes protection and delivery of much more of the underlying ingredient and, therefore, enhanced effects.

Tip! White Blood™ also has an amazing effect on erectile tissue as an added bonus. <Blap says >







Green Bulge™

Green Bulge™ is the most advanced creatine matrix volumizer ever to reach the market. It combines Magnesium Creatine Chelate (MCC), a patented form of creatine, with Creatine Ethyl Ester (CEE) to deliver synergistic benefits. Magnesium Creatine Chelate has been shown, in clinical trials, to boost strength significantly after just 2 weeks use.

This form of creatine draws water in greater abundance intra and extra cellularly. This increased cellular hydration leads to better protein synthesis and a fuller, more volumized look. Creatine Ethyl Ester is creatine monohydrate that has been attached to an ester. This ester allows for far better absorption by the body than can be accomplished with generic creatine monohydrate. Creatine monohydrate non-responders or those who felt bloated and had aches will achieve much better results with CEE and MCC.

These two forms of creatine work as described in over 99% of users, whereas creatine monohydrate could not be tolerated by a large percentage of users due to mild “side effects”. Taurine Ethyl Ester (TEE) and Arginine Ethyl Ester (AEE) have been added to the formula for volumizing and nitric oxide enhancing effects. Creatine and nitric oxide go hand in hand when trying to increase strength, protein synthesis and pumps.

Blap Blaow

The Subject-

Age:
24

Sex:
Male

Height:
5’6 (yes yes, I’m a shortass- move on… )

Weight:
72kg (approx 158lbs)

Body Type:
Ecto/Meso (I have 6 inch wrists and 8 inch ankles , but I do have one genetic ‘gift’ in my shoulders)

Training experience:
grew up as a cross country runner. I had dumbbells in my room as a teenager, but would definitely NOT consider this training. Made the transition to serious weights over 2 years ago. The first year was spent training hard with little understanding of what I was doing. The last year or so has been spent training smart, eating right and learning as much as I can.


Current Lifting Program:
4 day split- modified Max OT

Monday- legs
Tuesday- chest/ abs
Wednesday- rest
Thursday- back/ shoulders
Friday- arms
Saturday- cardio
Sunday- cardio

My legs and chest are my least developed body parts so my split is designed to prioritise them.


Current Cardio Program:
I run twice a week

Saturday- fast 3 mile run
Sunday- easy 4 mile run

Having run competitive cross country events in the past running is part of my life. Although I have not run as part of a team in years I still (try) to run competitively a couple of times a year- distances up to 10k.


Present Supplementation:
Custom whey blend (presently 75% concentrate: 25% isolate)
Casein powder
Fish Oil caps
Reflex NEXGEN (multivitamin)

I have spent the last 4-5 months stripping completely back on supplements in order to get my diet and training as perfect as possible. I am looking to reintroduce supplementation now in order to give me that extra kick towards my goals.


Supplement History:

Creatine monohydrate/ Creapure/ Micronised/ Creatine Citrate - tried various brand with varying doses/schedules and never noticed any benefits whatsoever. I have found this to be EXTREMELY frustrating. Yet to try CEE.

Glutamine- tried it, noticed nothing.

BCAA’s- noticed improved endurance and some improved recovery, although my doses weren’t huge.

Vit C- gives me diarrhoea in the smallest doses when supplemented!!! EVIL EVIL EVIL!!

NO- only tried this for a few weeks, gave me some pumps but nothing dramatic- definitely nothing worth the money. Not sure of my water intake at the time but it’s entirely possible that I was under hydrated whilst on it.

ZMA- found it extremely difficult to fall asleep whilst taking ZMA (up to 2 hours) no matter the brand. One I was asleep, the quality of sleep of sleep was good. Never tried it other than pre-bedtime.

I’ve never been a supplement junkie, particularly since the supplement scene (for anything but the basics) in the UK in pretty much underground. Commercial advertising in this area is non-existent. Now that I’m a member of these boards and have had a chance to look at some of the more exciting stuff out there who knows…


Prescription/Recreational Drug Use/History:
None. I don’t drink or smoke. I even avoid over-the-counter painkillers.

Goals:
Short Term: Make it as close as possible to 77 kg (170lbs) by the end of February whilst maintaining bf as much as possible. I know hitting a lean 170lbs will be difficult in given the timeframe, but it doesn’t hurt to have ambition!

Long Term: Reach 180lbs at a comfortable 10% bf. I have a long term girlfriend and I’m not really looking to impress anyone. I have no desire to compete and I’m not really the ‘top off’ kinda person. I lift because I enjoy it, but moving from a cross country fit 120lbs to 150lbs+ in 2 years has been a challenge.

I am planning a full X-Factor/Xtend cycle (and log) 2 weeks after finishing with this stack.

My goals will probably change once I reach them but at the moment I’m not looking beyond that 180lb mark. At a teeny tiny 5’6 I should be filled out quite nicely!


Other Reviews / Logs:
I have kept a personal training log ever since I first started lifting 2+ years ago- this will be my first online log.

No reviews on this site. Not sure if I'm allowed to post links to other sites so I won't risk it.


The Diet-
Typical LIFTING Day Diet/Supplementation:

0630-

bowl of oats
whey shake (0.3l milk)
0.5l water

0900-

homemade protein bar(s)
apple
0.5l water

1100-

bag of mixed nuts
0.5l water

1300-

tuna and mixed vegetables
0.5l water

1600-

homemade protein bar(s)
natural yogurt
0.5l water

1800-

whole eggs and oats
peanut butter
banana
0.5l water

1900-

>>5 caps Green Bulge<<
>>3 caps White Blood<<
0.75l water

1945-
(pre-workout)

Oats with whey (0.4l water)

2000-

GYM
2.0l water

2100-
(post-workout)

dextrose/maltodextrin/whey (0.4l water)- sipped over the course of an hour

2200-

Chicken with brown rice
0.5l water

2330-

casein shake (0.4l milk)
oats
fish oil
multivitamin

Overall water intake is approximately 6 litres

Other liquid intake (ie. excluding pure water) is approximately 1.5 litres



Typical CARDIO Day Diet/Supplementation:

0800-

>>3 caps White Blood<<
0.5l water

0900-

bowl of oats
whey shake (0.3l milk)
0.5l water

1000-

>>5 caps Green Bulge<<
0.5l water

1100-

CARDIO

1200-

whey shake with oats
1.0l water

1400-

whole eggs and oats
banana
0.5l water

1700-

tuna with mixed vegetables
natural yogurt
0.5l water

1900-

whey shake with oats (0.4l milk)
peanut butter
0.5l water

2200-

Chicken with brown rice
0.5l water

2330-

casein shake (0.4l milk)
oats
fish oil
multivitamin

Overall water intake is approximately 4.5 litres

Other liquid intake (ie. excluding pure water) is approximately 1.1 litres

I am currently shooting for the 3200 range in terms of calorie consumption (calorific excess)

Blap Blaow

The Point

- This log is un-sponsored and unbiased. I am looking to get as much feedback as possible to make the most from this stack. Whilst I have immense respect for Tank and pu12 I have been extremely frustrated by other products (particularly creatine based) in the past and since learned to expect nothing. I know my body well enough to notice change.

- I won’t be posting specific workouts or weights lifted, but I will note any strength gains (or otherwise) body weight gains, general thoughts etc.

- I love writing and I’m a stickler for detail and organization so I apologize in advance for the long-ass intro and (possibly) some of the long progress reports along the way!

- I won’t be starting on this stack until next week. I have posted early in order to get as many suggestions/comments as possible BEFORE I start in order to make the most out of these products. So,

----> if you have any comments/questions/suggestions please feel free to post them

Blap Blaow

DAY 1
7th November 2005
LEG DAY[/color]


Deviations in Diet/Schedule:
Nothing to note. Liquid intake was where I wanted it. I skipped my yoghurt today , but nothing serious. Some of my meals at work were a little jumbled because I was sent off to help out in another office so there was some extra travel I hadn’t predicted, but nothing that cost me a meal outright. Not a bad first day nutrition-wise.

Pump/Vascularity:
Started off with squats. Managed a good increase in reps for each set but because I’ve had to squat at the END of my workout the past few weeks (due to excess squat-rack traffic) I kinda expected my squat to be up if I put it first this week.

What threw me though came next on the Leg Extensions. The only time I have EVER gotten leg pumps is at the swimming pool where my legs feel pumped and full but very heavy. After 2 sets of leg extensions my quads were tingling and feeling fuller- very strange for me. After the third set I noticed this had only increased and my quads were actually feeling a pump! I have to make it clear that whenever I give it my all in the gym (which I try to do every session) I always end up learning something new about my body. Whilst I absolutely definitely 110% DO NOT attribute these pumps to the stack, I will say this session I learned what leg pumps were all about. This made me happy

The rest of the workout was solid. Pumps in quads subsided after about 20 minutes (during a calf set). Hams felt tight and were definitely getting worked hard today but felt nothing out of the ordinary. Calf workout was just as solid. Some good vascularity in my calves after a few heavy sets but, again, nothing out of the ordinary.

Like I said the quad pumps lasted about 20 minutes then became far less noticeable. On the short walk home (5-6 mins gym to front door) I noticed nothing that wasn't typical for me. It’s now 2+ hours since I finished up my workout and my legs feel very fatigued but nothing else. This is perfectly normal for me.

Strength:
No increases in strength to note. However I feel like I’m at the stage where next week a few exercises will be ready for a bump.

Endurance/Stamina:
Virtually all of my exercises were up in terms of reps except Lying Hamstring Curls which actually felt a little weak today. I’m not sure why but Ham Curls have suffered a lot in recent weeks. I’ll have to give this a bit of thought. Again, it’s FAR too early to attribute any of these rep increases to the stack. In fact pretty much all rep increases correlated with those in recent weeks, so I was happy

Overall:
Solid workout today but nothing out of the ordinary bar the temporary quad-pumps. Looking forward to trying to emulate/better these next week already!!!


Thoughts:
I don’t really know what to think about today. At the moment my legs feel exactly like they would after a non-stack leg day but the quad-pumps really threw me when I was in the gym- especially since it was only my second exercise of the evening! I’ll just have to see how this transpires in the coming weeks; but then I have to remember this is only day 1 so I’m convinced the stack couldn’t have had that much of an effect already. Could it?!

The time I get back from work varies with traffic/how busy we are/how generous the boss is in letting me go home early etc etc. Also, when I took the stack (on schedule) I didn’t really feel like I was on an empty stomach although it was an hour after eating. Both of these factors make me think it’d be better to eat just before I leave work to give myself a little more time to ‘empty up’ a little- particularly since virtually all of the ‘real world’ feedback I’ve read indicate results on an empty stomach blow any other schedule away. I’ll see if I can try this tomorrow.

Notes to Self:
- have a good long piss before you leave work or make sure you have a wide-necked bottle handy in the car.

Blap Blaow

DAY 2
8th November 2005
CHEST/ ABS DAY

The Day That Was:
Woke up this morning and my legs were still very fatigued but without any DOMS just yet. This is perfectly normal for me the morning after a leg day so there was no problem here. What I did noticed was that this fatigue continued on for longer than I would’ve anticipated. Normally my legs would be tired up until mid-morning then there would be a period of being ‘normal’ followed by the slow but sure onset of DOMS. This period of ‘normality’ didn’t hit today; instead I went into leg fatigue ---> leg fatigue and some DOMS ---> just some good ol’ soreness. This may be stack-related but I’m just putting it down to ‘one of those things’ for the moment. Just for reference the soreness really kicked in around lunchtime which is about right for me.

I did some mild stretching as the DOMS set in and made sure to take note of where and how bad the soreness was. I found that my quads, hams, glutes and calves were all affected to the same degree- again, perfectly normal for me.

As I write this (26+ hours after the end of my leg workout) I’ve noticed something a little odd. Whilst the rest of my legs are certainly still suffering from soreness my quads (specially the vastus lateralis) are MUCH sorer than any other area. This is unusual and potentially significant since this is where I experience my pumps yesterday. I’m not really sure what to make of this though since it’s only been 1 workout!!

-------------------

Deviations in Diet/Schedule:
Again, nothing significant. Yet again I was thrown out of sync a little by having to help out at another office (only found out once I’d already gotten into work at 7.30 ). This was fine though since I pre-make all of my food and can happily carry it around in my little bag. Liquid intake was good but slightly limited by some extra driving and the decision not to drink within 45 minutes of having to drive anywhere. My upholstery is all the better for it

I said yesterday that I would try to eat my pre-stack meal a little earlier to ensure an emptier stomach. I couldn’t manage this exactly but instead I was able to take my stack a little later and subsequently go to the gym a little later. Overall there was an extra 15 mins between my pre-stack meal and taking the pills (75 mins total). This felt MUCH better than yesterday but I’m going to try and push this back to 90 mins and see how that goes.

Pump/Vascularity:
I never have a ‘typical’ workout because I can never guarantee equipment will be available once I’m at the gym. I do, however, have a rough guide in my head and enough knowledge of exercises to find alternatives where necessary. This was required today since the gym was particularly busy.

Stating of with Dips I really felt my chest stretching and working nicely- today already felt like a solid chest session. By the time I had finished up with the Dips, Inc. DB Press and Machine Presses my chest felt like it had taken a good beating, but no pump to note. Since chest day is my shortest workout I like to do a few abs sets before my final exercise. This is where Odd Occurrence Number 1 happened. After 3 abs sets my abs were actually tingling and felt a little pumped! This is very unusual and took me a little by surprise. The pumps didn’t last long (maybe 20 mins- the same as yesterday) but were definitely noticeable.

Odd Occurrence Number 2; every 3 out of 4 chest sessions I end up with a great pump after my last set. Today there was nothing like this. My chest felt full and worked but I couldn’t ‘feel’ that pump (I hope you’re following!). This was a little unusual and slightly disappointing to be honest- but the ‘fullness’ continued as I walked home.

Odd Occurrence Number 3; this ‘fullness’ was nothing unusual. What was unusual was that I couldn’t feel actually feel that ‘pump’ I associate with it. About 45 mins after my session something very odd happened- my chest seemed to get even fuller! I was typing away on the forums and I actually felt my chest expand a little and my t-shirt tighten up. There was still nothing I would call a ‘pump’ but this increased fullness was crazy! This lasted for about an hour and now (3 hours post-workout) my chest still feels solid but nothing compared to earlier.

Strength:
No strength gains out of the ordinary although I feel I’m making solid progress with my chest (finally!!).

Endurance/Stamina:
Reps were notably up on Dips, Machine Presses and Cable Flyes- but nothing dramatic and nothing to shout about. Solid progress. Inc. DB Press was a little weak but I fully put that down to a jumbled workout order this evening.


Thoughts:
Just like yesterday- I have no idea what to make of today. Two of the three most notable thing of my workout (ab pumps, and spontaneous Hulk-like chest explosion after workout) could all be attributed to this stack- but the third anomaly; the lack of that feeling of a chest pump, makes me think. Anyways, it’s only day 2 so I have a while to assess things properly and actually compare workouts against each other. I’m very reluctant to put anything down to the stack just yet.

Overall:
Another solid workout. Lack of chest pumps at the end was a little dissapointing but 'blowing up' later made up for it! Look forward to comparing next weeks workout.

Anecdote of the Day:
Driving around today needing ‘relief’ reminded me of when I used to work as a travelling salesperson before I started university. I was obsessed with banana milkshakes but I also have a pretty small bladder. Combination= I had to actually urinate in a milkshake bottle once and boy did that thing foam up!!!! Not only did I fill the whole bottle up but I then had to blow off the banana-flavoured-foam-urine-overflow to cap the damned thing That was definitely one of the low points of my life

Blap Blaow

DAY 3
9th November 2005
REST DAY

The Day That Was:
Utter shite. That’s the only way I can describe today. I actually had to go into work on time (7.30am ) to start a stock check which wasn’t completed ‘til 7.30pm. This mean that a lot of my meals were taken as and when I could, rather than at the times I’d prefer. I was tired and under a little stress. I was VERY close to forgetting to take my stack today too!! Infact, it was only whilst reading Toxic’s log that I remembered. Today was a hard day.

Physically things weren’t going great either. My right shoulder ached as soon as I woke up- very unusual. After a little while I realised that I couldn’t raise my right arm above horizontal! This was very frustrating. At first I thought I may have slept funny but the pain continued on throughout the (long) day. Once I got home I was able to see my own personal doctor (my brother). He’s diagnosed me with shoulder impingement syndrome- which effectively means parts of my rotator cuff have become inflamed. I cannot tell you how frustrating this is. My left rotator cuff has always been ‘lose’ (the joint tends to pop out a couple of times a year) but nothing like this and never in my right shoulder. I’m assuming that White Blood will aggravate any inflammation even further, but I’d like a little confirmation of this (if possible). What are the chances that the White Blood accelerated a condition I may have had coming on anyway? All thoughts on this greatly appreciated.

Anyways- back to the rest of my day. Physically I felt fine. The DOMS in my legs was easing up a little but was still most noticeable in my quads. This rate of healing is a little quicker than normal (I’d typically expect to still be sore 3-4 days after a leg workout) and I’m very surprised that my calves have suffered with such little soreness; I’m often left crippled on Tuesday mornings!

My chest soreness is also out of whack a little. If there’s one thing I know about my body it’s when DOMS will kick in after any given workout. 11½ hours after a chest workout is normally when the soreness starts, and this will typically continue to get worse for 7-8 hours when it reaches its peak. Today chest soreness didn’t kick in until a good 16 hours post workout. This may not seem significant but trust me- it is for me and I definitely took note of it. Overall, chest soreness isn’t as much as I’m used to either- but that may have changed by morning.

I’m going to take anti-inflammatories tonight and tomorrow (on my brother’s recommendation) and see how the shoulder works out. I’m still hoping I can somehow ‘sleep it off’!!.

Don’t know if I’ll workout tomorrow. I really want to but that may just be a stupid idea given my present position. Then again I’m not known for being sensible. I’ll just play it by ear and see how this pan out.

On a side note I somehow found the energy to devise and make up two new PWN£D pics!! Coming soon to a troll near you…!!!

-------------------

Overall:
Not happy with my day in the slightest. But sometimes bodybuilding doesn’t mix well with the real world! Tomorrow’s another day.

Definitely some things to take note of with my DOMS. I’ll be taking notice of this in future workouts (whenever they may be )

Gripe of the Day:
I’m so tired and frustrated I actually have no comedy to end this update with! Sad times…

Blap Blaow

DAY 4
10th November 2005
UNSCHEDULED REST DAY (>INJURY<)

The Day That Was:
A little better today. Woke up this morning with some pain still in my right shoulder- so hopes of all being healed up overnight were dashed But on a positive note I got some quality sleep in and the shoulder felt MUCH better- but it’s definitely still out of serious action.

I spent most of the day thinking about how to deal with this little injury and the stack at the same time. I HATE taking unscheduled time off from the gym so I was trying to come up with the best possible and most sensible compromise- after all my long term health is the most important factor here.

This is what I came up with;

- Today; Continue to take the White Blood and Green Bulge today but NO TRAINING, especially since today was a scheduled Back/Shoulder day! Treat it as a rest day.

- Friday; Train arms tomorrow as scheduled but stick to isolation exercises. This sucks ass but it’s the safest way of doing things at the moment. Continue with the stack.

- Saturday/Sunday; Continue on with the stack over the weekend- I’m VERY interested to see how this stuff works out with my running.

- Monday; Continue on with the stack- leg day.

- Tuesday; the decider! Carry on with the stack and give my rotator cuff’s their first real challenge since yesterday. Sensible chest workout.

This will give my shoulder around a week to recover and since this shouldn’t be a serious injury I hope to be back to decent form by then. Obviously, all of this is subject to change and I will definitely NOT carry on training if I feel I’m not up to it but this is how I’d like the next week or so to go. I will definitely be looking to make Cuban Rotations a more permanent feature of my schedule from now on. Any suggestions or opinions on this situation would be appreciated.

On to the rest of my update…

The DOMS in my legs has all but gone. This is at least 12 hours ahead of schedule (yes, I know my DOMS that well). The sorest area is still my quads but that the level of soreness is minimal. I will be very surprised if there’s any soreness whatsoever come morning. I’d like to change up my timetable in the future and maybe do cardio on Wednesday and Saturday and keep Sunday as an off day. The main thing that has stopped me from doing this is the soreness after leg day. If my recovery improves any more it would be a great for my schedule.

My chest is also suffering from minimal soreness. I’m normally dreading lateral raises on a Thursday because of the stretch on my sore chest but I feel like that wouldn’t be a problem tonight. Unfortunately I’m not training tonight to test this out so we’ll have to save this one for next week. I’m pretty confident in saying there’s some improved recovery from DOMS going on. Not mind blowing stuff so far but something may be taking affect and it’s still only just over halfway into week 1…

I have noticed none of the ‘side’ effects others have noticed. None of the mind blowing-underwear-bending-action or the pumps from performing simple everyday tasks (NOT RELATED TO ANYTHING IN MY UNDERWEAR!!!!). I’m not particularly bothered about this at the moment as it’s still early days so we’ll see how this develops.

I wouldn’t normally update on diet on a non-training day but since today was unscheduled I may as well. My diet was solid- pretty much spot on, but my liquid intake was a little down. Not a huge amount- about a liter because of all the water I didn’t drink by not going to the gym.

-------------------

Overall:
Not a bad day all things considered. The apparent increased recovery of both my legs and chest is potentially exciting but it’s too early to judge on this. I’m looking forward to going for a run a week into this stack and seeing how that goes- even if I’m still not happy going to the gym tomorrow.

Joke of the Day:
WARNING- this may induce a groan in those with a more developed sense of humour…!!!

"Give me a sentence about a public servant," said the English teacher.
The small kid wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant."
The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked.

"Sure," said the young boy, confidently. "Means carrying a child."



--------------------


LAST MINUTE UPDATE:
Whoa shit. As I was typing this I was scratching my leg (I’m in my boxers ready for sleepy time ) and I noticed a vein bulging out of my left thigh! I’ve NEVER noticed vascularity in my upper legs before so this was very strange. Just checked and there’s also so vascularity happening on my right thigh too. Very exciting considering I’ve been sitting on my ass for the last 30 minutes! Definitely something I’ll take note of in the next few weeks.

Blap Blaow

DAY 5
11th November 2005
BICEP/TRICEP DAY

The Day That Was:
When I got up this morning my shoulder felt a lot better than Wednesday but there were still definite signs of remaining inflammation. My range of movement was about 98%- there was only actually one angle I couldn’t make comfortably. With this in mind I was still not too sure about continuing with training this evening, or even the stack for that matter, until things healed up. Good day at work because I got to sit on my ass all day but things did get a little stressful when my boss ran out of work halfway through the morning- his 7 month pregnant girlfriend was going into labour I’m not sure if the baby was delivered or what but he’s a good guy and I hope everything works out ok for them both.

Luckily I was able to avoid any heavy lifting at work today and stuck to nice’n’light paperwork! High reps + low weights = tonage baby ! But seriously, as the day progress my shoulder felt better and better. I still don’t posses a full ROM but it’s reassuring to know that I’m healing up ok and I didn’t incur any serious damage to myself. Throughout the day I was contemplating what to do tonight.

Only on the drive home did I decide on continuing on with training and the stack. I felt that if I was strict enough in my exercises tonight I should be able to pull it off without doing myself harm. I was aware of the risks but I was also ready to stop myself in the gym at the first sign that something was not right.

Other points to note from today…

DOMS in both my legs and chest has disappeared- no soreness at all. Nada, zilch, diddly squat… NOTHING! This is good news because I always dread that I may be slightly sore for my weekend runs, but not this week! I’m surprised that the DOMS has totally gone in my chest too. Usually it’s still very slight, but present, on Fridays but I can tense up as much as I want without any soreness whatsoever.

Also in regards to my chest- it’s definitely not pumped or anything but my inner chest in particular seems really full and hard- flexed or not. I’m not sure what this is down to but I do know I couldn’t stop feeling up my cleavage all afternoon!!!

-------------------

Deviations in Diet/Schedule:
No significant changes to the ‘typical diet.’ My water intake was excellent today, as was the balance on my account with the urinal! Seems like something I’ll just have to get used to for now.

My food intake was also good, but with one exception. When the boss left mid-morning I was rushed off my feet and my second meal was postponed until a little later than I would have liked. Nothing too serious and a minor fault in the grand scheme of things.

Pump/Vascularity:
Bear in my I avoided all compound movements tonight to take the pressure off my shoulder. Therefore it was not a ‘typical’ workout but I still ended up working pretty hard in the gym.

Biceps had a solid workout. Recently (ie. Past couple of months) I have been getting excellent natural pumps in my arms and honestly didn’t think these would be surpasses. Today at least- I was right. Pumps were good, but not dramatic. In fact I would say that last Friday’s ‘natural’ pumps were better than tonight’s. I’m not sure if this was a result of my change in routine or because I was being very careful in my workout. Probably a combination of both. Also, I very very very rarely get DOMS in my biceps and wouldn’t expect to tomorrow, but we’ll see. There was some good vasularity though- particularly on my right arm (but this has always been the case). Some of the veins are still present 3+ hours post workout, which is unusual.

I can usually achieve a pretty good pump in my tri’s too. Unfortunately I was stuck at the cable stack for my tricep workout because both dips and CG. Bench were out of the question and I didn’t want to risk hoisting any weights over my head at this stage. Felt like my triceps still got a pretty good workout and pumps were good but again below-average. I usually get DOMS pretty bad in my triceps about 12 hours post-workout so we’ll see if this transpires tomorrow morning. No vascularity of note.

I finished with some forearm work. When worked directly my forearms usually explode with pumpage and they did again tonight. Great pumps and vascularity but nothing that wasn’t typical of a good forearm session.

As I have said- I usually get great arms pumps un-supplemented. Therefore my ‘acid test’ tonight was going to be seeing how long my pumps lasted as they are normally gone 5 minutes after my last workout. Tonight was no exception as all pumps had fizzled out by the time I got home (5-7 minute walk). A little disappointing but it’s still early days.

Strength:
No strength gains of note but I wasn’t touching the really heavy stuff tonight for fear of damaging myself any more.

Endurance/Stamina:
As a result of dropping my working weight a little I was able to punch out a few more reps. Triceps and forearms seemed to have greatest and most improved endurance as I squeezed out a few extra reps whilst my biceps actually felt a little weaker than normal. Again, I was very conscious of injuring myself further which probably accounted for this.

Overall:
A little disappointed with the pumps today. They were definitely there but barely up to par with typical arm-pumps. Hopefully this was due to the restricted training.

Thoughts:
I don’t know if this stuff is kicking in yet. Again, the improved DOMS recovery seems to be the only tangible affect so far, with a little improved vascularity but nothing dramatic. I was counting on shoulder/back day to test the pumps since my shoulder/back pumps are non-existant naturally. If I were to feel a pump here I would KNOW that something was working but this injury has eliminated this option for another week- possibly longer.

Something else to note is that I have felt really bloated today and yesterday. After about 12pm my stomach seems to swell up I look like I’m carrying an extra 10% bf. Not sure what’s going on here as I know these products are not supposed to cause bloating and the feeling is very odd since I’ve never suffered from creatine bloat before nor have I added anything new to my diet. I’ll definitely keep an eye on this and when I weigh myself Sunday morning I expect to have put on a significant amount of (water) weight.

Blap Blaow

Although CL recommends an hour between pre-stack meal and stack I don't really feel like I'm 'empty' after 60 minutes or so. As of Monday I'll be preparing an extra meal to eat at work (instead of eating as soon as I get home) around 5pm so my evening will hopefuly look something like:

17.15: eggs/oats

18.45: take stack

19.45: oats/whey shake

20.00: train...

Blap Blaow